SCHRADER 24TH AT PHOENIX; 31ST IN POINT STANDINGS

 

It was a “yoyo” day for Ken Schrader and his Little Debbie Ford Fusion team.  On new tires Schrader’s car would drop back in the pack, but if a green flag run of any length followed, he would start working his way forward.  Up and down.  Up and down.

“We had a tough day today, but we made it through the race, and we finished on the lead lap,” said Schrader.  “The car didn’t want to go after a pit stop, but we were pretty decent on long runs.  We just didn’t have those often enough this afternoon, and that makes for a long day.”

Schrader qualified 32nd.  At the start of the race he quickly fell back to 39th, but as the laps went by he started the long climb up.  When the yellow flag came out for the first time on lap 70, Ken had gained back 10 spots.  And, the Little Debbie crew gained him two more spots on the pit stop.  He restarted the race 27th. 

Again he fell back, this time dropping to 32nd.  As the tires began to wear other competitors saw their lap times decrease as Schrader’s got better.  On several laps Ken was as good as or better than the race leader.  When the second caution was displayed on lap 150 he was 25th.  At that point he had also just lost a lap. 

He was the recipient of the “Lucky Dog” award, and stayed on the lap with the leaders for the rest of the day.

The second half of the event was punctuated by eight caution flags, and green flag laps were scarce.

Crew Chief Michael McSwain tried various adjustments, and they helped, but the car still needed longer runs to come in.

NASCAR threw the red flag on lap 307 of the scheduled 312 to clean the track after Casey Mears appeared to spin in oil laid down when another competitor lost an engine on the next to the last restart.

There were only four laps left when the green came out for the final time.  Ken restarted 24th and finished 24th.

Kevin Harvick dominated the Checkered Auto Parts 500, but the margin of his victory at the end was just .25 seconds over Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson goes to the final event of the 2006 season leading the NEXTEL Cup Chase for the Championship by 63 points over Matt Kenseth.  Kenseth finished 13th Sunday.  Harvick and rookie Denny Hamlin are tied for third, 90 points back.

Ken remained in 31st place, 97 out of 30th.

Next Sunday, November 19, the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the Ford 400.  NBC will telecast the Florida event live with race coverage beginning at 2:00 p.m. EDT.  The green flag is scheduled for 2:50 p.m.  MRN (Motor Racing Network) will also carry the race over its network of radio affiliates.

Phoenix Results:

  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Jimmie Johnson
  3. Denny Hamlin
  4. Jeff Gordon
  5. Carl Edwards
  6. Mark Martin
  7. Kasey Kahne
  8. Kurt Busch
  9. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
  10. Jeff Burton

   24.  Ken Schrader

 

Points after Phoenix

  1. Jimmie Johnson                       6332
  2. Matt Kenseth                         6269
  3. Kevin Harvick                        6242
  4. Denny Hamlin                         6242
  5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.    6217
  6. Jeff Gordon                            6165
  7. Jeff Burton                  6107
  8. Mark Martin                           6059
  9. Kasey Kahne                         6013
  10. Kyle Busch                 5973
  11. Tony Stewart                          4609

   31.  Ken Schrader                       2973